European Mutual Funds Putting in Employee Owned Publicly Traded Companies

[Dan Bell <dbell@kent.edu>]

I received this information from John Pimenta. Thought it would be of interest
to the EOSUBNAT working group:

ABN AMRO (Germany) has come out with a new mutual fund product which invests in European employee owned publicly held companies.

Sustainable Asset Management (SAM)  a Swiss Mutual fund publishes an Inde which tracks the stock prices of Europearn Employee Owned publicly traded companies. Below is a brief description of the Index.  Attached is a 16 page pdf file Guide to SAM Employee Owned Index describing how the Index is compiled.

Looks like the Europeans are further along in putting their money where their mouth is as far as employee ownership is concerned.  Although there are similar indices published in the USA as far as I know there are no mutual fund products which specifically invest in employee owned companies.


Objective 
The SAM Employee Ownership Index has been launched. This index tracks the performance of the leading European companies in terms of employee ownership in the Dow Jones STOXX 600 index. Businesses throughout Europe are becoming increasingly aware of the widespread benefits of employee ownership. It offers a flexible opportunity to provide employees a long-term interest in the firm for which they work. 
A well-designed and effectively communicated employee ownership program plays a decisive role in the attraction, motivation and retention of employees. 
Employee ownership stimulates entrepreneurial spirit, encouraging initiative and responsibility. Employee shareholders take a long-term view of the company's development and become more aware of strategic decisions and their consequences. 
By owning shares in the company for which they work, employees become more involved in capital ownership, generating further investments. 
Wage flexibility is important for job creation and preservation. Stock and stock option plans offer companies a solution for flexible and targeted compensation that is important for smaller, fast growing companies. Methodology and Selection Process
The SAM Employee Ownership Index is a European index. The SAM Employee Ownership Index investable stocks universe is derived from the components of the Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index. Each of the 600 companies in the Dow Jones 600 Index is asked to complete a questionnaire and provide additional information about their activities in the area of employee ownership. The selection is primarily made by comparing companies of a same economic sector. The <http://www.sam-group.com/pdf/SAM_EOI_INDEX_GUIDE.PDF>SAM Employee Ownership Index Guide can be downloaded as a pdf file. Components
The SAM Employee Ownership Index comprises 30 components, representing 10 different countries and a wide range of industries. A short <http://www.sam-group.com/pdf/SAM_EOI_STUDIE.pdf>study with more information regarding the composition of the index and the survey results is now available as a pdf file (in German). Index Value

The value of the SAM Employee Ownership Index as of December 7, 2001 is 287.84. 

<http://www.finanzenonline.de/abnamro.htm>ABN AMRO Bank (Germany) will offer a specific financial product based on the SAM Employee Ownership Index. 

--
Dan Bell
International Program Coordinator
Ohio Employee Ownership Center
Kent State University
Kent, OH 44242
(330) 672-0333 << Direct number!
(330) 672-3028 general office number
(330) 672-4063 fax
dbell@kent.edu
http://www.kent.edu/oeoc/
http://cog.kent.edu